Jon Lowenstein’s photographs show that photos are not stuck in a single moment, but can reveal a long and deeply felt story. His is a slow process built over decades. The documentary photographer’s themes are social injustice, racism, and systemic violence. With each project he develops deep, decades-long ties to the communities that he documents. His work on the situation of undocumented immigrants in the USA has already received a great deal of attention. For two decades Lowenstein has turned the camera lens to his own neighborhood, Chicago’s South Side. Often presented as a hotspot of social issues on the news, he uses his camera to record everyday life and transcend the headlines in collaborative and honest black-and-white photographs. Supplemented by oral histories, personal texts, and poetry the insight into the South Side deepens even further and fills the pictures with additional life.

Text by: Jon Lowenstein
Designed by: Jacob Birch, spine studio